


star light

by chaoticautumn



Category: South Park
Genre: M/M, Pre-Relationship, Stargazing, i didn't proofread this i'm so sorry, i wrote this while tired out of my fucking mind
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-09
Updated: 2019-04-09
Packaged: 2020-01-07 13:34:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,687
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18411701
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chaoticautumn/pseuds/chaoticautumn
Summary: Kyle can't sleep and stargazes instead. Cartman finds him and it's kinda gay.





	star light

Kyle sighed as he gazed into the crackling fire, listening to the wood pop in the quiet summer night. He didn’t know how he got roped into another camping trip with his friends. It always started out with Stan bringing it up not at all discreetly at lunch, and Kyle flat out saying no. He had shit to do, dude, he couldn’t go camping every other week. But Stan and Kenny had apparently planned with each other beforehand on how to convince Kyle, even dragging Cartman into the mix. But even after a lot of insisting and pleading and negotiating, Kyle still held firmly to his refusal. The thing that did him in was Cartman’s offhand comment on how Kyle was too pussy to sleep outside at night. Which didn’t make sense, seeing as Kyle had done it multiple times before. So, of course, Kyle had to prove him wrong.

Which landed him next Stark’s Pond, staring at a dying fire and occasionally poking at it with a nearby stick.

Kyle watched the ashes spiral into the sky and melt into the stars above, his gaze flicking between the glimmering lights. He’s always loved space, loved watching the stars creep across the sky and the gradients of colors dissolve into each other as the night passed hour by hour, minute by minute. He had a lot of books on astronomy when he was younger, the bright pictures of galaxies untouchable by man drawing him in, and had known all the constellations by heart.

Eventually, Kyle had grown up, studying for his classes instead of studying planets, letting the books collect dust on his shelf. His expertise on astronomy faded to the back of his mind, but his love for the stars above never died. Kyle just didn’t have a chance to look up and admire them anymore, always dealing with his friends, his family, or school.

Kyle set the charred stick down and let himself fall backward off of the log he was sitting on, a soft grunt escaping his lips as his back hit the wet grass. Yea, this was a lot better than craning his neck to look up, though his jacket was going to be uncomfortably soggy later and there was a small rock in his side he didn’t bother moving.

His emerald eyes gazed up at the colors splayed out above him. The pure infinite size of space made Kyle feel small and insignificant to the rest of the universe. Nothing he did would really matter in the long run. Everything happened in a blink. Like he was an ant. He did what he could until he died, but ultimately, everything kept moving. The universe stopped for no one.

Kyle moved his arms behind his head, content with being alone in the universe right now. The only beings that existed were him, whatever was up there, and the frogs that apparently never shut up, no matter the time of day. The hum of the creatures in the woods and the gentle waves of the pond lulled him into a sense of security and he let the feeling wash over him, the safety of it erasing every anxious and angry thought from his mind. It was nice to not have to think about anything for a while. His eyes lazily drifted across the constellations. Occasionally the name of a particular constellation or a star or planet he remembered popped up in his thoughts and he smiled, happy to know his knowledge wasn’t completely gone.

A footstep behind him partially lifted him out of his daze, but he didn’t turn to see who it was. It was most likely Stan, Kyle reasoned. The redhead was supposed to be currently asleep in the tent after all.

“Dude, what the fuck are you doing,” a familiar yet quiet voice called it’s way across the grass, just loud enough to ensure it was heard by Kyle but quiet enough to not wake up anyone else.

That wasn’t Stan.

Kyle, unwilling to sit up, shifted his head so he could focus on Eric Cartman’s dark figure. The brunette hadn’t changed out of his clothes from earlier today from what Kyle could see in the moonlight, still wearing dark jeans and a jacket that was most definitely uncomfortable to sleep in. Cartman quirked an eyebrow at him and took a step closer, clearly unsure of what to do in the silence that stood between them.

After a few heavy moments, Kyle gestured to the sky with a lazy hand, turning his gaze back up. “It’s pretty at night,” he said. “Why are you up?”

Cartman glanced up for a moment then looked back down at Kyle. “Couldn’t sleep,” he muttered, and Kyle nodded in understanding. Their gazes met and Kyle could sense Cartman’s defensiveness lowering - that was a perk of being as close as they were. After being enemies for a good portion of their lives, it was a habit to pick up on what the other was feeling. Just in case. Kyle and Cartman weren’t enemies anymore, in Kyle’s mind. They were more leaning towards the kind-of-friends who still bickered and fought over everything.

Kyle blinked out of his thoughts when he felt something nudge him in the side and cleared his vision. Cartman had walked over to Kyle while he was lost in his mind and gently kicked him in the side, some semblance of concern lightly furrowing his eyebrows as he hovered over Kyle. Kyle smacked his leg in return and grinned up at the brunette, who just kicked at him again and smirked back.

Cartman sat himself down next to Kyle, his legs crossed and his hands in his lap, looking up at the sky. Kyle watched him quietly. The moonlight provided enough light for Kyle to see Cartman’s lingering small smile and his soft features. Cartman really had grown into his weight as he grew up. He definitely was still chubby, but he wasn’t as overly obese as he’d been as a kid.

Kyle reached out in a moment of impulsiveness and latched onto the back of Cartman’s jacket. Cartman glanced back at him, confusion glinting in his eyes, and Kyle simply gave him a mischievous smirk before yanking Cartman down next to him.

Cartman landed on his back with a surprised grunt. He blinked up at the sky, dazed from the sudden movement, and Kyle snickered. Cartman turned his head and gave Kyle an irritated glare, and Kyle raised a teasing eyebrow at him in return and shrugged best he could from his position. Kyle turned his eyes back up to the marginally darker sky, a small grin tugging at the corners of his mouth.

After a few moments of comfortable silence, Kyle shifted over a little bit and relaxed his cheek against Cartman’s warm shoulder. He pretended not to notice how Cartman stiffened, staying quiet, and Cartman relaxed too a second later. Cartman gently moved his arm so it was around the smaller boy’s shoulders, and both boys tried to bite back the smiles toying at their lips.

Kyle pointed up to a specific bright light. “You see that planet up there?” he said. Cartman’s eyes followed where Kyle’s finger was pointing and nodded after a few seconds. “That’s Saturn.” Kyle moved his hand a few inches down, pointing to a vague group of stars. “And that’s Sagittarius under it.”

Cartman hummed a quiet affirmative. He didn’t know a lot about the stars or planets. Everything he did know was from Kyle during late nights. Not that he really paid attention to Kyle.

“Hey Kyle,” Cartman suddenly said, catching sight of a plane overhead and pointing up at it. “What’s that one?” Kyle snorted and reached over to bat at his arm, otherwise not replying.

Kyle sighed a minute or so later of listening to the quiet, the stars reflected in his gentle green eyes. “I’m going to miss this,” he said, voice soft enough he wouldn’t have been able to hear himself if the frogs were just a little bit louder.

Cartman raised an eyebrow although he knew Kyle couldn’t see his expression. “What is there to miss?” he asked. “You’re finally going to get out of this shithole of a town and away from the morons we call adults.” 

“I mean, yea, I guess,” Kyle said. “But I grew up here, dude. We grew up here. This is our home.” Kyle was silent again for a few seconds, then quietly added on, “I’m going to miss doing this with you guys.”

“This?” Cartman repeated.

“Yea. Hanging out with them, getting high or playing video games or coming up with our own levels of fantasy I know I wouldn’t have been able to come up with alone.” Kyle gestured in the vague direction of the tent Stan and Kenny were sleeping in as he talked. “Coming out here to camp and do stupid shit, like snowball fights or skating or making a giant fucking bonfire and burning what we could find, or even just getting drunk and talking about whatever.”

Cartman hesitated, letting Kyle’s words hang in the air for a short bit before replying. “You can always come back, you know,” he said. 

Personally, Cartman was going to get the hell out of South Park as soon as fucking possible and never look back, but he could see why Kyle was hesitant to move away. Kyle had lived a good life here, with a family that loved him and friends that cared immensely about him. Cartman had not.

 

Kyle was quiet for a second, trying to put his thoughts into words. “It’s not the same. We aren’t kids anymore. Stan’s probably going to be out in California doing marine biology for the rest of his life, Kenny’s doing whatever the fuck he’s decided on doing, and I…” Kyle trailed off. “I don’t want to leave this behind,” he murmured, almost inaudible.

Cartman sighed and his arm tightened marginally around Kyle. “You don’t want to be stuck in this town, Kyle. You’re gonna do really fucking cool things one day and as sweet as our fucked up childhood was, you shouldn’t stay here. You’re too smart for this town.”

Kyle paused for a long moment. “Did you just call me smart?”

Cartman hesitated before answering in an annoyed tone. “Just because you’re smart doesn’t make you any less of an entitled asshole. Don’t read into it.” Kyle snickered.

They fell into silence again and Cartman was just about to mention that they should both probably get up and go the hell to sleep when Kyle murmured, “I’m gonna miss you.”

Cartman blinked and looked down at Kyle. The redhead was purposefully looking up at the sky like he could read the answers to the secrets of the universe, avoiding Cartman’s gaze. His face looked mildly flushed in the moonlight. Kyle shifted and Cartman ripped his gaze away before they could make eye contact.

“What’re you gonna miss? How easy I was to insult every day?” Cartman intended for his voice to be light and teasing, but he couldn’t keep the bitterness from seeping into his words.

Kyle tried to hide his wince and shook his head. “No, that’s… I’m gonna miss how familiar arguing with you is. It’s going to be… weird. Without you. No matter what we did you were almost always around. We… We’ve gone through a lot together, even if we weren’t friends. You were always by my side the next day.” Kyle shifted up and folded his arms on Cartman’s chest, resting his chin on his forearms, his viridescent eyes meeting Cartman’s golden gaze. 

Cartman tried not to notice how bright Kyle’s eyes were, silvery moonlight giving the green an eerie look, or how his freckles stood out against his cheeks and across the bridge of his nose like constellations mapped across his face. Cartman tried not to notice how his arm had slipped from Kyle’s shoulders to the middle of his back, fingers lightly grazing the fabric of Kyle’s jacket, or how warm his face felt under Kyle’s scrutinizing gaze.

Kyle was quiet for a few seconds, green eyes flicking back and forth across Cartman’s face. “I’m gonna miss that, ya know?” he murmured, voice soft. “I’m gonna miss you, fatass.”

A gentle expression relaxed Cartman’s features and the small hesitant smile said what words couldn’t. “Yea, I’m gonna miss you too, Jew.”

Kyle returned Cartman’s smile full force, and Cartman failed to bury the warm feeling fluttering around his chest. 

A beat passed, and Cartman gave in to his impulses.

He pulled Kyle’s face close to his and pressed his lips against Kyle’s in a chastely sweet kiss before shifting back and looking back up at the sky like he hadn’t done anything.

Kyle blinked, unsure if he’d just imagined that happening. His fingers lightly touched his parted lips and he stared at Cartman, not really believing what had happened until he saw the maroon blooming across Cartman’s face. His mouth closed and a gentle smile grew across his expression as Cartman shifted under him uneasily.

“Hey,” he whispered. Cartman glanced at him apprehensively and Kyle took his opportunity, pushing himself up and kissing Cartman gently, his hand moving from Cartman’s chest to cup his face. He pulled back after a moment and stifled a laugh at Cartman’s shocked expression, resting his cheek on his forearms, smile affectionate. The moon reflected in Cartman’s bright molten gold gaze, flicking around Kyle’s face like Kyle wasn’t from this realm of reality.

Cartman finally managed to move and smacked himself in the forehead. “Fuck, okay, you could’ve given me a warning, you know,” he muttered, half to himself.

Kyle laughed and shook his head. “It’s not like you gave me a warning,” he retorted, amused.

Cartman blushed and looked away before hesitantly glancing back at Kyle. “Can- Can we try that again?” he quietly asked, clearly uncertain, his face growing a deeper red by the second.

Kyle grinned and nodded, and Cartman pulled him close again, stopping just before he pressed against Kyle. Kyle gave him a small, reassuring smile, his eyes glittering with laughter, and closed the distance between the two, his eyelids slipping shut. He could feel the raw emotion practically radiating from Cartman, poured into the kiss, and Kyle returned it with just as much feeling.

They broke apart, each of their chests light as though they were floating through the stars, trying to catch their breath although the kiss wasn’t all that deep.

“Holy fuck, Kyle,” Cartman breathed, gazing at Kyle in absolute awe. Kyle hummed his agreement, doing his best to ignore the flush of self-consciousness creeping up the back of his neck.

Cartman opened his mouth to speak again, but clearly thought better about what he was going to say and looked away. Kyle playfully poked at his cheek to get his attention. “What were you gonna say?” Cartman mumbled something unintelligible and Kyle poked him again. “Dude, I won’t leave you alone until you say it.”

Cartman sighed and glanced back at him but almost instantly looked away again, embarrassment heating up his entire body. “I said I’ve been… wanting to do that for a while,” he muttered.

Kyle grinned at him despite his own embarrassment. The idea that someone actually wanted to kiss him was enough to make him feel giddy, whether it was Eric Cartman or not. He pushed himself up enough to kiss the top of Cartman’s nose. “Yea, I know you did,” he murmured back, and paused before speaking again, trying to work up the courage to admit something he’d never told anyone, not even Stan. He glanced up at Cartman again, meeting his gaze. “So have I.”

Cartman gave him a surprised but genuine smile and the two turned their gazes back to the sky above, watching the stars and the planets twinkle approvingly. The fire close to them had died, only a few remaining embers burning in the pit. Neither knew where this would lead them, but they knew everything would be okay in the end.

**Author's Note:**

> sorry i kinda switched the viewpoints back and forth i'm so used to writing in cartman's perspective i can't stay in kyle's  
> i have no reasoning for this either i just. man i like stars


End file.
